Be Ditty

With 2012 being a year, where I focus on self-discovery. I have been looking at what I like doing, what makes me happy and how I can just be me. Here are a couple things from the weekend that I enjoy and make me happy.

Thursday night and all day Friday I focused on Taxes and Volunteering. 

I know that might not be fun for other people, but I really enjoy it because I like to be able to help others and this program gives me that opportunity.

On Thursday night, I went to the orientation for the site that I am going to volunteer as a tax preparer. I had been doing the program for 4 years and then I took last year off. I really like the program so I am excited that I can participate again this year. On Friday, I took an all day training with a test to be an intermediate tax preparer. I passed! This is the first year I did the intermediate class.

To learn more about the program, check out Campaign for Working Families. It helps low income families file their taxes for free. It helps people take advantage of the Earned Income Credit. It is a really cool program!

Friday Night, I met EVA.

Five rounds for time of:
Run 800 meters
55/70# Kettlebell swing, 30 reps - I used 35#
30 Pull-ups

42:10

I only did 3 rounds, but I did all 90 pull-ups with no band. 

This was my pull-up bar. I was prepared with 3 bands for when it got to hard, but I didn't need any of them. I made a decision for me that doing a little less weight and only doing three rounds was worth it to me to get to work on pull-ups. It was a hard WOD to keep the intensity because it was long. But I kept telling myself to "Be Ditty". For me that means, having fun with the workout, cheering others on, and doing my best and I felt like I did that. 

On Saturday, I worked most of the day, but I  rewarded myself with a manicure and pedicure. I know pedicures are silly in the winter, but I love when toes have a fun bright color. It makes me smile and then my feet look nice for yoga. It was my time to relax!

What do you enjoy doing? What makes you happy?

Weekend in Review

My weekend included hanging out with a lot different groups of friends, some good workouts and great food.

Friday night 

We hosted two couples over for dinner. We had one person who was a vegetarian, who ate seafood and another person, who didn't eat seafood, so we had to get creative. Here's what we ended up doing:

Appertizers

Chips and Salsa

Guacamole and carrots or chips

Entree

Stuff Peppers with ground beef or fake ground beef

Broccoli soup

I think it worked out well.  It was fun to hang out and catch up with friends that we hadn't seen since last August.

Saturday

It started with a great workout with the Super Sectionals Training at KOP. We did a team WOD. Within the WOD, I did "Elizabeth" (21-15-9 Squat Cleans and Ring dips). I scaled and used 75# for the cleans and a band for the ring dips. I am working on keeping my intensity up and working within a short time domain even if that means scaling so I keep the speed up in the workout. After the WOD, I stayed for intro to Westside Barbell class. It is a really cool program. I am need to decide what my goals are for 2012. I am strongly considering focusing completely on Strength. 

Picture taken by Aimee during Elizabeth

After the workout, I had a friend date with my friend Sarah from the gym. We so much fun getting to know each other. We went for coffee and were just chatting the whole time. It is so much fun to really get to know a new friend. I told Sarah about this blog I have started reading and book I want to read, MWF Seeking BFF because I felt like we could be part of the book.

After coffee with went to a friends' house for dinner, we had a great dinner of broccoli soup, sweet potato fries, brussel sprouts, and pork. It was delicious. It was a night full of laughter. 

Sunday

Today, I went to the 9 am workout. It was good one and really to tried again to keep the intensity up, but I used the RX'd weights. I tried hard to break it into sets and not take too much rest. I think I did pretty well. I was happy with my performance.

21-15-9
Calorie Row
Dumbbell Thruster 25#/45#
Hand Release Push-up

15:17

I made a yummy breakfast when I got home, No-at Meal (pronunced "Note Meal") or No Oat Oatmeal. The recipe is enough for 2 servings. It was delicious and nice to change it up.C. Varied made me a latte with coconut milk with the new espresso maker. It was so good. I wish Starbucks offered this.

No-atmeal

The rest of the day was spent meal planning, grocery shopping, and prepping food for the week with some football watching. 

How do decide your goals with your workouts? Should I work on getting stronger or faster during workout?

Happy Sunday!

Steve's Club

Today C.Varied and I participated in a Day of Service with Steve's Club at KOP. It was an inspiring experience. We got to skype with soliders in Kandahar CrossFit in Afghanistan and do the WOD with them. The WOD today was a Hero WOD.

"Jack"

Complete as many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of:
115/75 pound Push press, 10 reps - I used 2 20# dumbbells
10 KB Swings, 55/35#
10 Box jumps, 24/20 inch box

I got through 9 rounds with the help of my friend from Steve's Club in Camden, who counted for me and really helped me push myself. The kids from Steve's Club are awesome.

Huddled around the laptop to skype with Kandahar CrossFit

Group picture of Kids and Coaches from Steve's Club in Camden and KOP.

Photos Courtesy of C.Varied

Steve's Club is an organization connects the youth of the community with Crossfit.

Here is their mission statement:

"Steve’s Club and its participating members provide a national network of programs through which at-risk or underserved youth of any socioeconomic background can join in the CrossFit Community at a reduced, low or no cost structure."

Steve's Club: Saving a Nation One Kid at a Time from Again Faster on Vimeo.

It started as one gym in Camden, NJ and now it is opening up the program nationally. So Crossfit KOP started their own affiliate of Steve's Club in 2011. The coaches running Steve's Club are doing an amazing job. Once a month, we do a team WOD with the kids and it is a great opportunity to bring the two communities together. It is something that I look forward to each month. I don't think the kids realize how much they bring to our community.

If you ever looking for some great paleo snacks, Steve's Club offers a variety of snacks such as paleokits and paleo krunch. 15% of proceeds goes to Steve's Club National Program.